World Financial Center Greenmarket reopens
The World Financial Center Greenmarket, located on the plaza at the intersection of Liberty Street and South End Avenue, opens for its second season on April 7. This year, the full market will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays, with some vendors arriving as early as 8 a.m. The market will be open through December 22.
There are three new vendors this year. Cranberry Creek Farm from Monroe County in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania sells eggs and heirloom vegetables and is especially known for its goat cheese — antibiotic and hormone-free and handmade in small batches.
Newgate Farms, also new this year, sells vegetables, fresh herbs, potted and bedding plants, cut flowers and baked goods. The family-owned farm in Windsor, Conn. was started in 1933 and is currently run with the help of the owners’ five children and five grandchildren.
Joining the World Financial Center market for the first time, the Castello di Borghese Vineyard, a winery from Suffolk County, N.Y., will be at the market bi-weekly, starting on April 14.
Some favorites from last year are returning: Migliorelli Farm, with vegetables, fruit and cider from Duchess County, N.Y.; Red Jacket Orchard, with fruit, cider, microbatch juices and preserves from Ontario Co., N.Y.; Not Just Rugelach with artisanal breads and baked goods from Hudson Co., N.J.; Meredith’s Bread with baked goods from Ulster Co., N.Y.; Stony Mountain Ranch with grass-fed, Piedmontese beef from Schuylkill Co., Pa. and MK Orchid Farm from Orange Co., N.Y. with orchids and hydrangeas.
Under the aegis of GrowNYC, Greenmarkets bring fresh, locally grown produce and products to New Yorkers. Brookfield Office Properties has made the Battery Park City Greenmarket possible by donating the use of the World Financial Center space.
Outdoor dining on the World Financial Center Plaza
After a successful season last year, three vendors are returning starting April 7 to the World Financial Center plaza that faces North Cove Marina with sandwiches, beverages and more. QualityBurger, from Merchants Hospitality (owners of SouthWest NY and Merchants River House in Battery Park City), will be back with hamburgers, cheeseburgers, salmon burgers and hot dogs priced from $2.50 for a “naked” hot dog to $7.75 for a salmon burger. Beverages include milk shakes, beer, soda and water priced from $2 to $5.50.
Ed’s Lobster Bar will also be back this year. Fatty ’Cue, with barbecue and beverages, is the newcomer. Abraham Merchant said that QualityBurger will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during April and until 9 p.m. thereafter.
Poets House exhibit: Alberto de Lacerda
In 1961, two Portuguese poets, self-exiled in London to escape Antonio Salazar’s dictatorial regime, met and instantly became life-long friends. One of the poets, Alberto de Lacerda, died in 2007 making the other, Luis Amorim de Sousa, his executor. Inspired by love and admiration for his friend, de Sousa has devoted himself to preserving and disseminating de Lacerda’s legacy. Now, Poets House at 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City is mounting an exhibit called “Insolent Grace: An Exhibition on the Transatlantic Life of Alberto de Lacerda..” It includes paintings, prints, collages, first-edition books inscribed to the poet, handwritten correspondence, inscribed original typescripts of poems and more.
Though he took great care to protect his privacy, de Lacerda met people, famous and unknown, with openness and interest. He had many devoted friends and acquaintances. The exhibit includes a handwritten note from Martha Graham, a telegram from Edith Sitwell, a typed and inscribed poem from Allen Ginsburg, a postcard from Elizabeth Bishop and art — including several portraits of the poet by Arpad Szenes.
The free exhibit opens on April 6 and runs through June 18, 2011. For more information, go to www.poetshouse.org.
Battery Park City in Bloom
The cool temperatures of March and early April don’t faze Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa luciliae), whose luminous, blue blooms shine like stars among the dried grasses, sticks and mud of departing winter. Chionodoxa, which ornament the Battery Park City esplanade, originated in western Turkey, where mountainsides are tinged blue by these relatives of the fragrant hyacinth, fearlessly poking through the snow.
They were first described in 1877 by Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810-1885), whose collecting trips took him to many parts of Europe, North Africa and western Asia. He named the flower for his mother, Lucile Butini. The rest of the scientific name comes from Greek: “chion” means “snow” and “doxa” means “glory.”
Battery Park City’s gardens are planted and tended by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy, whose gardening staff seeks volunteers to help out between May and October. For more information on volunteering, call Eileen Calvanese, head of the horticultural team, at (212) 267-9700.
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